


Victoria

by CMA6725



Category: Zorro (TV 1990)
Genre: Duelling, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26935765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CMA6725/pseuds/CMA6725
Summary: This is a reveal story about De Soto doing what he does best: set a trap for Zorro. It is a bit more dramatic then the series and has basically no humor, but it is still meant to be as close to canon as possible. Enjoy!PS: I know it may look that way, but it is not a tragedy... Just a little tricky...
Relationships: Victoria Escalante/Diego de la Vega, Victoria Escalante/OC
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the idea of the story and the OC, make no momeny for it and share just for fun.

1822 – A few weeks before the Mexican troops took over California

It was a special day in Los Angeles. The wedding ceremony was over. Victoria, her groom and all the other participants were slowly walking towards the tavern when a rough-looking man materialized right next to them. He was wearing a long brown coat and his beard had most probably gone unshaven for weeks if one was to guide himself based on his appearance. He seemed more than a little drunk and was rather shaky on his feet, but there was hatred and rage on his face and in his voice.

"So…" he said "you are Zorro!"

The tall man hesitated before the stranger, sensing that there was something worrisome about him. "I am." He replied after a few moments.

"Good!" The drunkard answered with a wicked smile. "I hoped I'd get the chance to meet you!" He added, taking out a gun. "This is for my brother, Pablo Zaragosa!" The man uttered before pressing the trigger.

Victoria screamed as the bullet left the gun and found a resting place in the chest of the black-clad man, the day of his unmasking, then fainted just as his body was touching the ground.

The only person to react in the general shock was Don Alejandro, who kneeled before him and used his jacket in a desperate effort to stop the blood as he started yelling for someone to get Doctor Hernandez.

"It will be alright, son! We will get you through this. We will not let you die now!" The old don tried to assure the dying man. "Why did you do this?" Don Alejandro asked the shooter, tears in his eyes. "He didn't even kill your brother! He had stabbed himself on his own dagger!"

"That's not what I've heard!" The drunkard retorted.

"You will be alright!" Don Alejandro repeated despite the fact that he was fairly certain the battle was already lost.

A minute later the entire pueblo fell silent as its hero drew his last breath.

"Arrest the shooter, Mendoza!" De Soto commanded his man, who was in too deep a shock to react. His failure was irrelevant, though, since Pedro Zaragosa was far too drunk to even think about escaping and was simply standing in the middle of the plaza, some twenty feet away from the man he had shot in cold blood, now pointing his empty gun towards the black-clad man's body. A lancer thought he was about to also shoot Don Alejandro, so he pointed his musket at him. Another gunshot thundered through the silenced plaza as the last Zaragosa brother crumbled dead to the ground, a round wound through his chest.


	2. Chapter 2

Some three hours earlier in the municipal stables…

"Are you certain it will work Ignacio?" Tadeo Cordero asked his friend while he was taking off a fake beard.

"I wouldn't have called you here if I wasn't. This is the perfect plan. I will destroy my enemy and you will be… well… I can't really envy you, to be fair!" De Soto laughed.

"What are you talking about? I've just seen her. She's quite a woman, that one!"

"Yes… quite a woman… I guess that's one way to put it!" De Soto answered mockingly. "Heed my words, my friend! Victoria Escalante is like a little tigress! She'll eat you alive if you don't keep her on a short leash!"

"I know how to deal with women, Ignacio!" His friend answered with a laugh. "One night with me and she'll forget even the name of that outlaw of hers! But, better tell me: what income does she come with?"

"Income? Well… the tavern is worth around twelve thousand pesos and I am willing to pay you… six thousand on it after you wed the taverness. It's quite a nice sum."

"Hardly a fair price, however!"

"True… But, since you are in a hurry and it's my plan, I think I deserve some kind of reward!"

"Well… I hope the Senorita can deal with having less than she's accustomed to. I have no intention of spending my entire fortune on a woman. And if she doesn't behave… well… it's a long journey… Accidents do happen." He added with a cruel chuckle.

"I don't really care to know your plans with her, Tadeo!" Ignacio de Soto replied in a less amused tone as he didn't like that line of conversation. He disliked Victoria Escalante but did not wish her dead. Certainly not after the time he had thought himself in love with her. "That's on you, really! But… she does have her qualities. She's a great cook, you know. She may be useful in the future. Anyway… As I already told you, all I care about is inflicting a mortal wound on that fiend who fancies himself the 'pueblo's hero'. You must move quickly, though. I took the liberty to get you this" he said, handing Tadeo a small bottle. "It's ether. It will keep her sedated until you can leave with her. You will have everything ready, and the ship leaves in a little over six hours from San Pedro. You will need to take her away as soon as possible… before he finds out. With some luck, he will give up the fight… maybe even unmask himself."

"But if you announce the amnesty, you won't be able to do anything about him."

"Well… no… not right away. But he will give me no more trouble and… at a later date, I'll just make sure he'll fall into his old patterns. Once he does, I can just hang him for whatever crime he commits after the pardon."

"You think of everything, don't you?"

"I have to…"

"But how about De la Vega? He knows me and is still in correspondence with Daniel, the biggest bore in Europe. He no doubt told him all I've been up to after the university. He keeps himself rather well informed on all of us! Diego will surely know…"

"Oh, don't worry about Diego!" Ignacio cut in. "Why do you think I've chosen today? His father always sends him to San Diego for the annual cattle auction. He left a couple of days ago with his adopted son and two of their vaqueros, and he should only be back tomorrow. You, my friend, will be already gone by the time he returns… As you said… I think of everything!

"I also thought about whoever might be informing Zorro. My lancers have orders to silently arrest all those who leave the pueblo this afternoon. That way, he won't be able to interfere as he usually does."

"I see. Quite smart, I must admit."

"Yes. Now… How's that voice coming?"

"Let the show begin!" His friend uttered in a voice that made De Soto's hair stand on end.


	3. Chapter 3

About twenty minutes after that conversation was over, Sergeant Mendoza and two of his men nailed an announcement to the tavern’s announcement post.

“A tax on gifts?” Victoria asked in disbelief as she exited the taproom to read the posted announcement. “Alcalde!” She called De Soto on an enraged tone. De Soto was crossing the plaza with an innocent smile, heading straight towards her. “You know Zorro won’t stand for this!”

“Oh… I’m counting on that, Senorita!” He replied with a smug look as he entered her establishment and sat at a table by the door. 

Thirty minutes passed. An annoyed Victoria reluctantly asked Pilar to serve him his lunch, De Soto ate quietly, drank a glass of red wine with his meal and, after delicately wiping his mouth with the red-and-white napkin Victoria had provided him with, together with his lunch, he stood up and started crossing the plaza right as the black-clad rider entered the pueblo, heading straight towards him.

“Repeal the new tax, Alcalde!” The masked man ordered, his sword at De Soto’s neck, as everyone in the tavern came out to witness their hero’s latest antics.

“Zorro!” The Alcalde noted nonchalantly. “Just the man I wanted to see!”

“Really? And, tell me De Soto… why did you want to see me?”

“I have decided I’ve had enough of this game we’re playing.” Ignacio answered. “I wanted to offer you a deal.”

“What kind of a deal?”

“A very simple one. We stop fighting each other. You take off that mask in return for a full pardon, and I get out of this predicament I am currently stuck in.”

“Is this a trap, De Soto?” The black-clad man asked. “How do I know you won’t order me arrested the moment I take the mask off?”

“Here!” The Alcalde handed Mendoza a document. “Nail it up, Sergeant… and get rid of that announcement about the new tax. That is the written pardon, Zorro. Reveal yourself, and I have no legal right to harm you in any way. As I said... I am tired of this game neither of us can win. Think about it! As things are now, it can only end in either one of us departing or in one of us dying. I am not one to just surrender and leave, no matter how much I want to return to Spain, and I have no wish to die, either… Plus, you don’t kill, do you? As for your part of the bargain… you are a wanted man, and will not be able to lead a normal life as long as you are Zorro. Either you get yourself killed, leave the territory, or take my offer.”

The black-clad man didn’t look very convinced as he was staring at the Alcalde, seemingly pondering his offer. 

“Look,” De Soto insisted “I know you might not believe that things for the pueblo would change in the future if you trust me. I have not been the best administrator in the past, I know… and I own my mistakes. But give me a chance and I’ll prove I can be better. What I propose, really… is a partnership. You have great skills. Skills that I believe might be better employed if we work together, rather than against each other. You can continue to help us… help my men catch bandits, train them… Train me! And you seem to know enough about the law to help me find a better way to gather the needed taxes from the pueblo. And… if that is still not convincing enough… remember there’s a young senorita waiting for you. I’m giving you the chance to fulfill the promise you once made her!”

“You want us to be allies?” 

“I sincerely do. My lancers already have orders not to shoot you or try to capture you. Take advantage of this pardon and we can start anew!”

“It is rather tempting…” The black-clad man agreed. “What do you think, Victoria?” He proceeded to ask. 

“Seems legal to me!” She answered after examining the document posted by the tavern. “And we are all here to bear witness to the Alcalde’s words. Perhaps… it’s time for you to fulfill that promise?”

“Will you marry me if I do?”

“You know I will!” She stated, her face radiant.

“Alright. I agree, De Soto! But know this…”

“I will not raise a hand against either you or your loved ones, Zorro. You have my word!”

The black-clad man nodded and, dismounting, he headed towards Victoria, his black stallion’s bridles in his left hand. “Would you care to unmask me, my beautiful Senorita?”

The taverness’ needed no more invitation to take her hands to the knot tying the mask and, as it fell off, she stared in the blue eyes of a rather familiar stranger.


	4. Chapter 4

"Will you say something?" The black-clad unmasked man asked the taverness.

"I was right!" She replied with a smile. "You are handsome."

"Well… thank you!"

"Almost as handsome as Diego!" She continued with a statement she regretted the moment she involuntarily uttered it.

He ignored her, taking that comment as her way of teasing him. Other women had done that before, while in university. "My true name is Tadeo Cordero" he told her as he cupped her face with both his hands and leaned in to give her a kiss. "Will you be my wife, Senorita Victoria Escalante?" He asked as they parted, and she stared at him with wide eyes for a few moments.

She nodded with a shy smile. "I have waited over nine years for this!"

"Good! Then get your wedding dress and meet me at the altar!"

"You mean… you mean… marry you… now?" She wondered.

"Of course! As you've pointed out, we've waited for nine years. That is too long already!" He replied. "Or… do you have any doubts?"

"No!" Victoria protested. "No doubts! I'll go get dressed." She promised and hurried towards the tavern.

"How come I've never seen you around here?" De Soto echoed the question on everyone's mind, just as Don Alejandro was heading towards them, doing his best to make his way through the crowd.

"I am usually in disguise when I come here." Tadeo answered. "I couldn't risk anyone recognizing me, could I?"

"No… of course not." De Soto agreed.

"Zorro? Wh... What's going on here?" Don Alejandro asked as he neared the two, gaping at the unmasked man.

"Don Alejandro!" De Soto greeted politely. "Just in time!"

"In time for what?" The don asked completely confused.

"Why… To give away the Senorita, of course!" De Soto answered.

"You mean Victoria?"

"Si, Don Alejandro." The black-clad man answered. "Alcalde De Soto offered me a full pardon and, as a result, I can finally marry Senorita Escalante. My name is Tadeo Cordero, by the way!" He proceeded to introduce himself extending his right hand which the old don shook with both hands.

"I… I… am very honored! And very grateful for all you did for us, Senor Zorro… I mean, Cordero! And, of course, I'd be honored to give Victoria away. She's always been like a daughter to me!" The don agreed, cheering up. "I confess that I was beginning to wonder if this day would ever come!"

"Well… It has. Alcalde, since you made this possible, would you agree to act as my Best Man?"

"As a sign of our new… agreement, I would be honored, Senor Cordero." De Soto accepted, to everyone's amazement.

"And it will be my pleasure if you'd allow me to offer you the wedding bands." Don Alejandro suggested and hurried towards the only jewelry store in Los Angeles.

The joy of the people in the plaza was increasing by the minute as everyone was looking forward to the fulfillment of what was considered 'the romance of the pueblo', and people came one by one to thank the tall man for his actions as Zorro.

About fifteen minutes later, Tadeo, De Soto, Mendoza and all the other people in the plaza headed towards the church, where Padre Benitez was very easily convinced to perform the on-the-spot ceremony, seeing how he both owed Zorro his life, and he knew about his and Victoria's devotion to each other.

The taverness was escorted into the church by a proud Don Alejandro de la Vega who, despite having observed she was extremely beautiful in her new navy-blue dress, had not observed the ring she was now wearing on her right hand.

Reaching the end of the aisle, Tadeo took Victoria's hand in his and the ceremony began.


	5. Chapter 5

At about the same time the Los Angelinos were witnessing Victoria Escalante marrying the man everyone believed to be Zorro, an already-drunk Pedro Zaragosa stopped before the closed doors of the tavern.

After a quick look around the now-empty plaza, he took a bottle of tequila from his saddlebags and rounded the tavern to sit on the ground, by its side wall, where he was able to find a little shade despite the time of day. He had no intention of paying any attention to what was happening in the pueblo and couldn't care less about the suspicious emptiness of the plaza. All he cared about was to finish his bottle, then find the taverness and, through her, the man responsible for his brother's death.

That is how, despite stumbling into him as he stepped off the porch, he didn't even notice the tall caballero who, after a polite "Excuse me!" uttered in his direction, stopped before the tavern's closed doors, just as he had done a few minutes earlier.

Felipe was just some feet behind his adoptive father. They had sent the vaqueros home with the newly acquired cattle in order to spend a few hours in town and, while Diego ignored the announcement on the tavern's post, concerned about the reason for the tavern to be closed at its busiest time of the day, the younger man stopped right before it. The youngest De la Vega first glanced at the paper thinking it was one more tax created by the Alcalde to catch a certain masked bandit whose identity only he and the man in question knew. As he started reading, his eyes grew wide as his mind was trying to decide whether to rejoice or be concerned about the document and its effects.

Looking around, the Diego noticed the two lancers guarding the cuartel, who seemed to be the town's only human presence except for him, his son and the drunk man who had just passed them by to disappear behind the tavern. Gomez and Arenas were doing their best to look sharp while guarding, side by side, the closed gates of the garrison and the Alcalde's ofice, but had their own attention focused on the Chapel's doors. Diego was about to head towards them to ask if they knew why Victoria had closed her establishment, when Felipe drew his attention to the announcement.

"A full pardon?" He wondered after reading it, as alarms instantly started going off in his head. "Why would De Soto offer a pardon to Zorro now? Nothing changed recently that might lead him to do this. No, Felipe! It might be legal but it makes no sense. The Alcalde wouldn't just suddenly decide to give up on his grudge, especially since the news from Mexico are worrisome enough to cause him to try even harder to capture his nemesis at this point. Which means… Which means this must be just a new trap!" He decided and, waving his right index finger, he slightly pointed it in the direction of the lancers, a sly smile on his face, as he directed his adopted son towards the cuartel.

"Excuse me, private!" He asked, as he approached Gomez, Felipe on his toes. "Would you mind telling me what is going on here? I just saw the document declaring an amnesty for Zorro and the tavern is closed, although it's just one in the afternoon. Where is everybody?"

"They are all at the Senorita's wedding, Don Diego!" The man answered with a smile, reflected also on the face of his companion.

"The Senorita's wedding?" The tall caballero asked, his mind scanning the people of the pueblo for the person they might refer to. "You don't mean Victoria's wedding, do you?" He asked, just to make sure, his heart overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of dread.

"Si, Don Diego." Gomez answered and the man before him flashed to the time he saw the woman he loved almost marrying Juan Ortiz. "Since Zorro was pardoned, he unmasked and is now marrying Senorita Victoria. The ceremony should be finishing soon!" The lancer continued to explain.

If the ground would have opened and swallowed them whole, both Diego and Felipe would have had a lesser shock than the one they suffered at hearing his words. In the span of a few seconds, the caballero saw his life without Victoria, the woman he loved and who might already be forever lost to him. It was his fault, he realized, since he had postponed for far too long telling her the truth, telling her it was him under the mask, him she had been waiting for, him whose proposal of marriage she had accepted a year earlier. Now an impostor had come and claimed her and all his sacrifice had been wasted, just as his life had been. With that one piece of paper offering him back his freedom and the chance to fulfill his wish of marrying the one he considered his soulmate, De Soto had, in fact, defeated him in the cruelest way.

As he saw his dreams of a future by Victoria's side crumble, the only thing crossing his mind was that, perhaps, he was still in time to stop the wedding; still in time to confess everything and beg her to marry him despite his dishonesty, hoping she might understand his reasons and that she did, indeed, love the man behind the mask.

So, as Gomez was going on recounting the day's events to him, unaware that the caballero had already stopped listening, Diego suddenly turned on his heels and sprang for the church, just as the Zaragosa brother, overhearing part of the already-mentioned conversation with the lancers, more precisely the part about Zorro having unmasked, stumbling to raise on his feet, emptied his bottle and headed for the back of the tavern, where he could load his gun away from prying eyes. In his inebriated state, however, the entire operation took him absurdly long and, when he decided he was ready to confront his intended victim, he returned to an empty plaza.


	6. Chapter 6

Meanwhile, Padre Benitez reached the part of the ceremony where the bride and groom were asked to say their 'I dos'. Tadeo confidently said it but Victoria did not reply as soon as she was asked. Instead, she looked intently at the man next to her, then at Padre Benitez, who patiently repeated the question, then at Don Alejandro, who kindly smiled at her and nodded.

"I… I can't!" She eventually answered and a sudden murmur engulfed the crowd. "I can't!" She repeated. "I… I thought I… I'm sorry, Zorro!"

"You can't be serious!" Tadeo and Ignacio uttered at the same time.

"I know I promised I would marry you, but… I… the truth is I don't know you! I always thought I somehow would. I guess you were right! I was in love with a legend, not with the man of flesh and blood. I… I know you've waited for us to be together… but so have I! And while I've waited, another man has always been there for me. I didn't even realize that… that I fell in love with him until now! I can't marry you and love another! It wouldn't be fair for either of us! I'm so sorry, Zorro! Please forgive me!" Victoria explained.

Under the disbelieving gazes of all those present there, she caressed the tall man's face and turned, head bowed, towards the chapel's door, exiting the building just in time to see Diego heading across the plaza towards it.

The tall caballero stopped in his tracks,some twenty feet away from her, his face grief-stricken, unable to do more than stare at the woman he loved coming towards him, followed by a black-clad man he knew well, and by several Los Angelinos, including De Soto and his father.

Realization of what the Alcalde had planned came upon him the moment he saw Tadeo: the man who had once been his understudy in a play, but who had, meanwhile, built a career in acting. A man who looked a lot like him, almost as tall, black-haired, and wearing a similar moustache, but that was where the similarity between them stopped. Unlike him, the man he was looking at had always been too self-absorbed, too consumed by his hope for fame and fortune, too easily enchanted by the opposite sex, and too fleeting in his feelings towards the ones he declared to love. Diego had once liked him, but had meanwhile come to despise him for his behavior towards others, and, most of all, for his cruelty towards women.

"Please God, not him!" He uttered just for himself as his mind already glanced through Victoria's unhappy future by that man's side.

"I couldn't marry him!" She confessed as she came to stand right before him. "I'm… I'm in love with you."

Diego's eyes grew wide as she said that, and now he looked flabbergasted, glancing between his former schoolmates and Victoria.

"Please tell me I didn't just commit the biggest mistake of my life, Diego! Please tell me you can love me, too! Or that you will, at least, give us a chance!" She asked him, her entire being emanating a profound fear that he might reject her.

The tall caballero continued to look at her dumbfounded, a look he still wore as he examined the people before him, finding that they were reflecting his astonishment. When he returned to gaze at Victoria, he just smiled and nodded.

"I was hoping you might get over your infatuation with Zorro at some point." He answered.

"You were?" Victoria inquired, encouraged by his words. "Does that mean that you will give us a chance?"

The love she saw reflected on Diego's face answered for him, even before he uttered the words.

"Well… I guess people are already here for a wedding, aren't they?" He replied, a wide smile brightening his face.

"You… you want us to get married?" She questioned, as Don Alejandro was grinning from ear to ear.

Diego nodded and uttered a very convinced "Yes! If that is also what you want." 

Victoria smiled back, wiping away a few tears.

"Shall we?" She asked, and shyly took his left hand, guiding him towards the church.

Tadeo did not dare say anything as they passed by him, knowing full well that Diego had already guessed he wasn't really Zorro. The look this former colleague gave him said at least that much. Rather annoyed that he was not going to get both the woman and the money for her tavern, he simply followed De Soto back inside the church. As for the Alcalde, he seemed relieved at the sudden turn of events.

"Oh… Sergeant Mendoza… Would you mind being my Best Man?" The tall caballero asked, as he and his bride passed by the lancer.

Mendoza glanced between the groom and the unmasked man who looked a lot like his friend, then nodded his agreement.

"You won't change your mind again, will you?" Diego asked Victoria, as they reached the altar.

The taverness just looked at him, and smiled assuredly. "Not this time!" She told him, and Padre Benitez half-heartedly restarted the ceremony, mostly out of friendship for Diego, since he was rather certain that the bride might get cold feet again.

The black-clad man and De Soto watched from the back of the room.

"I was supposed to marry her!" Tadeo whispered to Ignacio.

"Don't worry! I'll still compensate you." The Alcalde answered with a grin.

"You'd better! But what are you so happy about? Our plan just failed!"

"On the contrary, my friend! This worked even better than I had originally planned."

"How so?"

"Well… She is still marrying another man, and this might just drive Zorro over the edge. If he either injures or kills Diego, I am three times blessed. Firstly, Zorro will be a criminal, and he will lose all public support; secondly, I might get rid of De la Vega, who, I must say, is a constant pain in my neck…; and, thirdly, the taverness will be ostracized for causing all this mess! Even if Zorro doesn't do anything to him, that fiend will still be heart-broken, and might decide to give up, or just become an easy target… or reveal his identity, since I doubt he'll allow an imposter to assume his recognition. In either case, I win!" Ignacio chuckled as Diego placed the wedding band Don Alejandro had previously offered to the man he believed to be Zorro, onto Victoria's finger, and she did the same with him.

"I now pronounce you man and wife." The padre uttered, relieved that the taverness' decision to marry had not wavered again, his words redrawing De Soto's attention to the couple getting married. "You may kiss the bride."

"Do you think he has ever even kissed a woman?" The Alcalde asked his friend as Diego placed a chaste kiss on Victoria's cheek.

Tadeo just looked at him with a puzzled expression but didn't reply.

When the ceremony ended, the bride, groom, the proud father and son of the groom, as well as the rest of the people in attendance headed towards the tavern, moments before the shooting.


	7. Chapter 7

"Alcalde!" Diego called as his father and Felipe were helping Victoria inside the tavern, Tadeo's body already claimed by the undertaker, and the grieving crowd beginning to slowly disperse.

"What is it, De la Vega?" De Soto asked, his face reflecting a mixture of irritation and relief at the thought that he wouldn't have to offer the now-dead man any money.

"I met Tadeo in France three years ago and he confessed to have never been to California until then. But you should know that, shouldn't you, since you were good friends while in university." He informed De Soto in a volume louder than the Alcalde would have liked, and which drew the bystanders' attention towards them, the plaza falling silent again. "In fact, I remember Daniel de Rochefoucauld* had mentioned in one of his letters that Tadeo had spent a couple of years in prison, from 1814 to 1816. Something about beating his fiancée almost to death, I believe. Care to explain how our old colleague, who I understand has been spending his last few years with traveling theater groups, ended up revealing himself as Zorro the very day you announce the pardon?"

De Soto looked at the puzzled faces around the plaza as the people were starting to understand Diego's accusation and an increasingly furious crowd was gathering again.

"Fine, Diego!" He agreed with a smug look. "He wasn't the real Zorro. I had paid him to say he was. But you knew that when you agreed to marry the Escalante woman, didn't you? So don't act like a saint now. I may have sprung a trap for Zorro, but you helped me willingly! I doubt the real masked fiend will be too pleased with you! Or that your new wife might forgive you for omitting to tell her that small detail... and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when she'll decide your punishment. You know how they say that silence is golden? Perhaps you should have kept your mouth shut!"

"Tell me, Ignacio. What do you think will anger Zorro more? The fact that I have married the woman he loves, after she confessed to loving me, or the fact that you almost tricked her into marrying a man known to take pleasure in harming defenseless women?" Diego questioned. "Do you have any idea what might have happened to her if she would have gone through with it, and married him? You have gone too far this time, Ignacio!"

While this conversation was taking place in the plaza, Don Alejandro was trying his best to console a crying Victoria.

"This is all my fault!" She said while sobbing and, by the looks she received from her patrons, they agreed with her. "He unmasked because I asked him to. Because I promised to marry him and I didn't even go through with it! After everything he's done for us I… I betrayed him! I proved him right! He… He told me, Don Alejandro! He said that his only fear in this world was that I was in love with a legend, and should he ever take off his mask I might still be in love with Zorro and not with the real man."

"I am sorry, Victoria. I can't even assume to know how you feel, but I am sure he wanted nothing more than for you to be happy. Even without him. Didn't you see how he hasn't even said anything when you went to Diego? I think he already knew, my dear. He already knew my son would make a good husband to you. I may be heartbroken about Zorro's death, but I am still glad you chose Diego. I can't even imagine what would have happened if you hadn't… that man… Zaragosa might had shot you, instead of him…"

"I would have gladly died for Zorro, Don Alejandro. Had Diego not stopped me… I would have taken that bullet."

"I'm glad he did, then, Victoria! But where in the world is Diego? Felipe?"

The young man signaled that his adoptive father had not followed them inside just as Don Alejandro, glancing at the taverness who was now his daughter-in-law, caught a glimpse of his wife ring's on her finger.

"Victoria? When has Diego given you that…" He started asking just as a very nervous Don Antonio, one of his friends, entered the tavern.

"That man wasn't Zorro!" He announced to everyone inside, instantly silencing all discussions. Victoria looked flabbergasted in his direction as Don Alejandro and many others there kept glancing between her and the newly arrived. "Don Diego just confronted the Alcalde about it," Don Antonio continued "He said that Senor Tadeo had been a university colleague of theirs and they both knew him well. Apparently he was and actor and the Alcalde admitted to having hired him to say he was Zorro in order to convince Senorita Escalante to marry him. It was all a trick!"

"What? And… Diego knew about it?" Victoria asked, her eyes wide-opened.

"He just said he did! I… I think he intends to fight the Alcalde…" he continued as Don Alejandro put a supporting arm around Victoria's waist, and they both followed the crowd outside.

*AN: Daniel is the same character to which Diego alludes as being "the biggest bore in Europe" in the TV Show's episode "He who lives by the sword". Since the information in Daniel's letter at the time proved useful against a certain English swordsman, I figured it might prove useful again in my story :P.


	8. Chapter 8

"This needs to end now, Ignacio!" Diego was proclaiming as the people were crowding on the tavern's terrace. "It is time for you to leave this pueblo."

"Really? I hope you're not challenging me, Don Diego!" De Soto uttered half-amused.

"Not yet, Alcalde. For now, I am simply suggesting you to do so peacefully. It would, at least, allow you to escape with your life and whatever is left of your pride still intact." He replied in monotone.

"I'm no quitter, De la Vega. Nor am I willing to let myself intimidated by half-men like you!"

"This time you should. But fine... I guess you have never really known when to quit, have you?" Diego concluded. "Now you give me no choice but to challenge you to a duel." He continued calmly.

"Do you really want to make the new Dona De la Vega a widow so soon? Really, Diego! I should have known you prefer death rather than marriage. Is the thought of being with her so unbearable, Senor?" De Soto joked, amused at the idea of fighting the famously-clumsy caballero.

"On the contrary. I have wanted to marry her ever since I came home from Spain, over nine years ago. All I am doing is offering you a fair deal. Either leave peacefully or fight me. You win, you get to take my life. If I win, you forfeit yours. Whatever you decide, one of us will no longer be here by nightfall."

"You do have a death wish!" Ignacio remarked mockingly.

"Diego! What are you doing?" Victoria asked as she came to stand in front of the crowd on the tavern's porch. "You cannot fight him! Please! I… I forgive you for not telling me he wasn't Zorro, but I'll never forgive you if you'll make me a widow minutes after our wedding!"

"Listen to your wife Don Diego!" De Soto suggested. "She's more understanding than most women would be in her position, and I, for one, don't need to take your life to already feel like a winner."

"Really? And what do you think you have won? Have you even stopped to consider you might have chosen Tadeo to help you for the same reason he had been chosen to be my understudy while in university? Once an understudy…"

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting, Diego? Please!" De Soto chuckled, a wide grin on his face.

"Why are you afraid to fight me, then?"

"Afraid?" De Soto replied, enraged by the provocation. "Say your goodbyes, Senor! I'd rather Zorro made your taverness a widow, but you seem determined to give me no choice."

"Diego!" Victoria's hands reached for his left arm as Don Alejandro and Felipe followed her. "I beg you! It's not worth your life! Don't go through with this!"

Felipe signaled to Diego, the meaning of his gestures escaping everyone except his father.

"I am! This needs to end today." He replied to his son, then turned towards his new wife, lowering the volume of his voice. "Victoria, please, trust me! I have no intention of leaving you. Certainly not now, when you can finally wear the engagement ring I gave you, in public." He told her with a wink, then made a gesture with his head indicating his father and Felipe that they should take her to a safe place, among the gathered crowd. She followed them, glancing back at her new husband with a disconcerted look on her face wondering if he actually said what she believed he had said.

"Don Dalmiro," Diego addressed an older caballero known to have once won some regional fencing competitions, after his family became part of the crowd again "may I borrow your sword? I promise to return it to you in the same condition."

The older don glanced worriedly towards Don Alejandro, who nodded, then back at Diego, and took out his sword, carefully handing it to him.

"I hope you know how to use one, son!" he uttered as the weapon exchanged hands.

Diego took it and smiled weighing it in his hands. It was not Toledo steel, but he was certain it would do the job even better, since he was planning to break his no-killing rule for the first time in his life.

"I am ready, Ignacio!" He informed the Alcalde.

"I'll make your death quick, Senor. Just like your brother's." De Soto assured him as he produced his sword and took position in front of Diego.

The two adversaries saluted, then started circling each other, Ignacio suddenly worried at seeing a certain self-confidence he had never previously noted in the De la Vega heir. When he was convinced Diego's eyesight might be affected by the position of the sun, he suddenly attacked, but the caballero avoided his thrust, gracefully turning around, a familiar movement which sent the white-haired man charging into the pueblo's public fountain.

De Soto stopped just before clumsily falling into the water, and turned back towards him, preparing his next attack. This time, his thrust was met by Diego's borrowed sword. So was his next, and, looking into the caballero's stone-cold eyes, the Alcalde's smile started to fade as the man before him hadn't even move from his place since the exchange started. A combined attack perfectly executed was easily parried, as was the one after that.

"I admit you might be a bit better than I had thought." De Soto uttered as he took a step back, pausing for a short while. His opponent had not even broken a sweat, and hadn't initiated any attack thus far.

As Ignacio lunged again, to everyone's astonishment, Diego disarmed him with a quick flip of his wrist. Deftly catching the Alcalde's sword in his left hand by its hilt, he sent it straight into one of the tavern's pillars, without even looking at what he was doing, all his attention focused on Ignacio. The weapon planted itself just inches above Sepulveda's head.

Diego's sword directed at his chest, De Soto took an awkward step back, stumbled, and fell on the ground.

"And I admit you were never much of a challenge for me, Alcalde!" The caballero replied, still in monotone, as all noise in the plaza was silenced, people frozen in expectation. "I hope you made your peace with God, Ignacio." He continued, preparing to thrust the sword through his adversary's chest.

Diego felt Felipe's hands holding his right one just before he made his move, though. His son shook his head and made all his effort to utter, in a voice that was merely above a whisper "You are better than him!" a fact that surprised Diego almost as much as Victoria's profession of love for him, in spite of her being convinced that she was thus giving up on Zorro.

"Yes! Please, Diego! I… I saved your life!" De Soto uttered with a puzzled glance at Felipe, then looked at his intended killer in terror, at realizing his life hung by a thread.

"How many times have I saved yours? Four? Five times? More? That never stopped you from trying to take mine." Diego replied, and the Alcalde's terror grew at his words.

Suddenly, the Alcalde realized he was no longer seeing his former schoolmate, nor a fearful weakling, but rather a coldly furious, unmasked Zorro who towered above him. He had seen the outlaw in a range of emotions from playful to stern to angry, but this cold fury sent chills down his spine. He could see the control his adversary was exerting over his emotions as his whole body emanated pure rage.

"You? You are Zorro!" He suddenly yelled what most people around them had already concluded. "That's an admission! Mendoza!" Ignacio called. "Lancers! Why are you not helping me? He's Zorro! Arrest him! Shoot him!" He asked, doing his best not to seem too intimidated by the sword at his neck or the man holding it. Diego didn't even flinch.

"You just offered him a full pardon, Alcalde!" Mendoza informed him in a squirming voice. "And he won the duel… so it is legal for him to take your life if he decides to…"

"I'd say your men were always more honorable than you've ever been." Diego pointed out. "What was your plan, Ignacio?"

"My plan?"

"Yes. Your plan. For Victoria. For me. For Los Angeles."

"I…" De Soto hesitated.

"Tell me the truth and I might chose to let you live." Diego urged him.

"Fine…" De Soto agreed despite hesitating for a full minute. "I hoped she'd marry Tadeo and be off my hands. He'd have gotten six thousand pesos to sell me the tavern and would have left with her for Spain on today's ship from San Pedro. Zorro… you… would have been heartbroken, thus easier to catch... I had every intention of hanging you as soon as I found a good excuse to do so." He confessed. "Without you, no one would oppose my rule."

"So you'd have had her raped and sequestrated by a violent man who only wanted the money you offered him. Did you know he almost killed his fiancée? That he enjoyed hurting women? That two of his lovers died in strange accidents he is still suspected to have caused? Have you taken the time to consider what would have happened to Victoria? Of course, you didn't. All you cared about was to catch me. No... Not just to catch me. To subject these good people to more of your incompetent rule and oppression. Do you even understand the consequences of your own actions, Ignacio?" Diego asked as the gathered crowd was murmuring angrily, causing De Soto to fear that, even if his old schoolmate would spare his life, the Los Angelinos might decide to tear him to pieces either way.

"I…"

"Did you have even the slightest impression that I wouldn't have killed you on the spot, consequences be damned, if that plan would have succeeded? If Victoria would have married Tadeo, believing he was me? Or that I wouldn't follow her to the ends of the earth, if I had to? I always did my best to avoid taking a man's life, but I would not hesitate to kill for her, Ignacio." Diego threatened, and there was little doubt in anyone's mind as to the seriousness of his threat. "You should thank her!" He continued, pointing towards his wife. "Her decision not to marry that thug saved your life. And so has my son, just now."

"Yes…" De Soto agreed with a nod.

"I didn't hear you! I said you should thank them!"

"Yes! Yes! Thank you, Dona Victoria. Thank you, Fel… Don Felipe!" De Soto uttered, his voice shaking.

"Now… I believe your ship leaves from San Pedro in about three hours, which gives you precisely ten minutes to sign your resignation, name my father in your place – the people of Los Angeles do deserve at least a good temporary Alcalde, after having had to deal with the likes of you for so long – pack, and be on your way. I will accompany you to your office to make sure you don't leave with the people's taxes, or the reward money, which will finally be used to help this pueblo. And… one more thing… I wouldn't want you to forget me too easily!" Diego decided as he carved a Z in Ignacio's vest. "Sergeant, why don't you help us speed this along by packing his essentials?" The caballero ordered, and guided Ignacio towards his office, Mendoza obediently following them.

Nobody seemed to have moved in the plaza, or utter a word the ten or fifteen minutes they were inside the green-doored building.

"I will need some volunteers to make sure he's onboard the ship when it leaves!" Diego asked at exiting the Alcalde's office, Ignacio still at the wrong end of his sword. Six men - two dons, a farmer and three vaqueros - offered to do the job. "Have a safe trip back to Spain, Ignacio!" He wished his former colleague. "And remember that, should our paths cross again…"

"They won't!" De Soto replied as he mounted his steed. He truly had no intention to ever return, and part of him was even relieved that his plan had failed, especially considering what would have happened to the taverness had it succeeded. The man who was Zorro had been right: he never did fully consider the consequences of his actions. "I… I'm sorry, Don Diego! I beg your forgiveness, Senori… Senora!" He said instead of goodbye, as his horse started to canter in the midst of the group of volunteers.

"You can speak?" Don Alejandro asked his grandson while most of the people were either watching De Soto depart or looking at the young caballero who had spent almost a decade defending them.

"Just a little." He whispered back. "But I have been hearing well since I was twelve." He proceeded to confess, as the old don embraced him enthusiastically.

"You've been helping him, haven't you?" He asked, and Felipe nodded. "Well, then… I guess you have a lot of stories to tell me as I intend to give you plenty of opportunity to practice speaking." Don Alejandro decided, beaming with pride at glancing between his son and his grandson.

Diego watched De Soto and his escort leave with the same frozen expression he wore for the last thirty minutes or so, then turned towards Don Dalmiro. "Thank you for allowing me to borrow your sword." He said as he returned the saber to its owner.

"It was my honor, Don Diego!" The man replied with undisguised admiration, as Victoria hurried towards her husband.

She stopped a few steps in front of him, just staring at the man she thought she knew as if she was seeing him for the very first time. In fact, they both remained looking at each other until the tall caballero suddenly cupped her left cheek and leaned to give her the most passionate kiss the Los Angelinos had ever witnessed, right there, in the middle of the plaza.

"I think I'd better take you home, Victoria!" Diego suggested when they parted for air, indecently-long minutes later.

"Yes. I believe you should!" She agreed with a teasing smile as she stopped noticing anyone and anything around her.

The people in the plaza, the ride to the hacienda, the looks on the De la Vega servants' faces passing by as Diego carried her to his room, their clothes, all blended in her mind as only her husband kept existing, his arms enveloping her, his breath warming her body, his naked chest protecting her, his eyes feeding her soul with promises of eternal love, his lips whispering only her name: Victoria.

ZZZZZZZZZ

AN: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and do review if you did!


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